In Defense of January

Think like a Bear 🐻

Note: Click on the title in your email for a better listening and/or reading experience on the Substack app or website.

When I first moved here I discovered this Rock being living in the forest just minutes from my door.

I gasped in amazement and joy, being the rockhound that I’d been since childhood. “Is a Bear hibernating there??” I whispered to myself as I crept closer.

Now, after a year of many Bear sightings, including a visitor at my kitchen screen door one morning while I was eating breakfast, I wonder if one of those Bears is under that boulder.

Is it Buddy? I recently framed a photo of him to place alongside Anya, the Coyote pup who graced me with her presence this summer.

Have I gone too far? Is this weird? I know there are some of you out there delighting in this every bit as much as I am. And I love you for it! :)

I don’t remember exactly when I began claiming January as my favorite month, but I can say with certainty that it had a lot to do with my sensitive Vata nervous system and the holidays.

I love fall and winter, but all the hustle, bustle, and commitments wore me out so much that I began looking forward to January. After the fake Gregorian New Year, that is.

As a friend of mine said: “F-ing fake New Year…just sets us up for failure when all we want to do is hibernate.”

January is like one big sigh of relief for me.

When I was younger and raising a family, I looked forward to it but hoped that a warm-weather vacation might be about to happen.

Now, I wouldn’t dream of going somewhere warm during January. I want to burrow in and deeply rest, like my animal spirit guide, the Bear.

After all, I literally live in a house that was named The Bear Den before I met her.

I realize that this might not resonate at all with you. Many people hate January with a passion.

You might live in the southern hemisphere, so this January discussion doesn’t apply.

You might have to get up at the crack of dawn, alarm beeping, and go out into the dark, cold morning, clean off your car, and get to your job.

Or you might live somewhere where it doesn’t get particularly cold or snowy.

Perhaps you just hate the gloom that can be January.

I’ve always lived in either the Midwest or the Northeastern US, and cold, snowy weather seems (to me) to herald a time of deep rest and rejuvenation.

I’m definitely an introvert by nature, and so having a sparse social calendar, a fire burning in the wood stove, and a good book is pure heaven for me.

I’m wondering how the extroverts reading this feel about January. Of course, it’s a spectrum - the introvert/extrovert question. As with everything, we’re all different.

But, all of this aside, would you agree that we need a period of deep rest?

Like the Bears.

And the Trees (and other plants.)

We live in such a 24/7 kind of world.

Although I write about my long wanderings in the woods and reading in front of my cozy wood stove, the truth is that I still spend too much time online - reading, writing, learning, and watching my latest addiction - Merlin. It’s just so good!

And so, I’m working on spending less time online. Email gives me horrible anxiety, and I avoid opening it like the plague. But if I ignore it, it just piles up, and so does the anxiety.

People have busy schedules.

9-5 jobs.

Young kids to care for.

Who has time for deep rest and healing?

But then I think of my friend, Amanda, who’s been traveling across the country in a camper with her husband and four children for over a year. She’s an amazing writer, and we bonded over our love of Nature.

Presently, they’re parked by a lake with a spectacular mountain view. In spite of her hectic life, which is certainly not one of solitude, she always manages to be outside as much as possible, Drinking in the healing of Mother Nature.

She sees it. She gets it. It’s visible in her words and in her photographs.

So, in many ways, it’s a choice. No matter how busy/not busy we are, we can make a choice to be in Nature, if only for a few minutes.

And don’t forget, it’s still Vata Season here in the northern hemisphere. And so, take advantage of one of the most delightful characteristics of this dosha - creativity.

You might be feeling a lot of creative thoughts rumbling around. I know I am. My Dashboard here on Substack is full of stories yet to be written.

I go to sleep thinking of them.

I dream of them.

I wake up thinking about them.

Speaking of sleep, we can choose to go to bed earlier rather than stare at a computer or TV screen.

Personally, the two things I can point to that continue to play prominently in my own healing are time spent in Nature and deep, long rest. I’ve been heading to bed most nights by 8:00/8:30. Turning off all screens at least an hour before lights out.

If you think, “That’s crazy!” just give it a try. In the beginning, I aimed for 10:00 p.m., but in the winter months, when it’s sometimes dark by 4:30, I just kept moving it up and up and noticed how much better I was sleeping.

Even when I lived in the city, I realized how important this was. I would wear an eye mask and earplugs, and towards the end of my stay there, I actually bought a (Pink!) tent that went over my bed and made me feel like I was in a cocoon. Goofy but effective. :)

A bit of Ayurvedic wisdom I learned many years ago was that the body likes to do a lot of its healing between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 2:00 a.m. If we’re awake - eating, reading, watching TV, or working on the computer- our body needs to use energy to digest food, think, etc., rather than where it’s needed. Like healing that knee or whatever else. You get the picture.

It’s also harder to fall asleep once you’re in that time frame.

I wrote this post a while back.

Should we all maybe think a little bit more like a Bear? Sleep longer hours? Deeply rest?

At least during the month of January?

As for being in Nature in the city, well, I would walk or bike by the river almost daily and stop and sit under my favorite Trees.

In the winter, I would wish for a big snowstorm. The first January after I’d moved across the river to Jersey City, there was a Noreaster! One of my favorite memories from there was that storm.

I walked alone at night in the blizzard a few blocks down to the mighty Mahicanituk (AKA Hudson River). There wasn’t a car on the road and barely any people. I got to the railing, and the Manhattan skyline was nowhere in sight. It was so peaceful.

Here’s the city the day after!

I didn’t have a car then, so this made me laugh rather than cry!

Yes, January can be a royal PITA when there’s ice and heavy snow to shovel. We just had another snowstorm on top of the foot of snow I got a week ago. This time, it snowed ten inches but was followed by heavy rain and wind. I have a plow guy, a snow shoveler, and a sand guy for when my (scary) driveway gets icy. They’re my winter angels.

I still love January.

Earlier today, when I took a quick peek at Instagram (I know, I know), this reel caught my eye, and I had to laugh. It’s too perfect.

It’s dedicated to all of my Midwestern friends or anyone else living like I did in Michigan, where lake-effect snow happens and results in many cold and often gloomy days. But, look, partly cloudy skies are predicted!

To all of you who don’t like January.

And anyway, who doesn’t like Michael Scott? :)

(Video by @midwestvseverybody on Instagram)

Last time that I’ll say it, I promise.

I love January. I really do. :)

Much Love,
Barbara

Thank you for your heartfelt comments, your subscriptions (free or paid), or just for stopping by and reading or listening to The Quaking Poplar 🌳!